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Get ready for a very special episode of Juicy Bits! For the first time ever, Jen sat down with six guests who shared their experiences as Indigenous skiers and snowboarders: Catherine Jager, Geneva Mayall, Nahanni McKay, Deenaalee Hodgdon, Ellen Bradley, and Hannah Corral. Get ready for some real talk about belonging in snowsports, Land Back, inclusion and exclusion, and finding joy in the mountains.
We created Juicy Bits because we wanted to continue the conversations that we start out on the trail and on the chair lift. Hosted by our CEO Jen Gurecki and Ambassador Jillian Raymond, they talk candidly about everything from dude soup, to sex, to politics, to equity in the outdoors. We occasionally (read: frequently) drop F-bombs, interview some of the most interesting people in the outdoors and beyond, and say things that many of us think but don’t feel comfortable saying out loud. If you are easily offended or looking for something that is G Rated, this is not the podcast for you. But if you love truth-telling and irreverence, get ready to laugh, cry, and maybe pee your pants a little bit.
Hello, and welcome. I'm Jillian Raymond, the co-creator of Juicy Bits and a Coalition Snow ambassador. And I'm Jen Gurecki, your co-host and the CEO of Coalition Snow. For those of you who are new, get ready to laugh, cry, and maybe peer pants. A little Juicy Bits is about taking the conversations that we start on the chairlift and at the trailhead and bringing them to you to explore alternative narratives that challenge the status quo about what it means to be a modern woman in the outdoors. Grab your helmet, because sometimes it's a bumpy ride. Fyi friends, this podcast is for mature audiences, so you've been warned. Let's get to work and juice the patriarchy.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the next episode of Juicy Bits. This is Jen Gurecki, and I am over the top, excited to bring for the first time six other human beings to a Juicy Bits episode. We've never done this, so it might go really well. It might get weird. No one knows what's going to happen, but we have six incredible human beings joining us today. And what brings everyone together is actually the Indigenous Backcountry Scholarship. Now, for those of you who do not know what the Indigenous Backcountry Scholarship is, it is a scholarship fund that was created in partnership between Coalition Snow and one of our ambassadors, Denali, who is on the episode today. And it is a way to support Indigenous people getting into the backcountry, spending more time in the backcountry, honing their skills in the backcountry by providing them with a pair of skis or snowboard from Coalition and $1,000 in cash to do what they see fit to support their progression in the sport. So everyone in a moment is going to go around and do introductions and you'll know who's on the call. But we have a few people who received the scholarship. We have some people who were part of the selection committee. And everybody in this episode is really, I would say, sort of redefining what backcountry skiing and snowboarding is and who does it and why we do it. And there's so many other things that we're going to get into all of that tonight. But we really should before we get into introductions, we should give the backstory on really how the Indigenous Backcountry Scholarship started because it's super true to form for me.
Denali and I had been talking about doing some different things together in November of 2020. I emailed Denali and said, hey, let's launch this scholarship. Let's get a bunch of money. Let's raise a bunch of money. Let's do this thing. And by the way, I want to make it go live on Thanksgiving Day because, I mean, fuck Thanksgiving, really. I was just like one of the little ways that I have of poking at colonizer genocide, the celebration of all of that. So I was like, let's launch it on Thanksgiving as this way of like, let's create a new tradition, and Coalition can create a new tradition around this day where we're really considering how we all exist in community, in partnership with the land and with one another, and just sort of redefine what that day looks like. So I emailed Denali and surprisingly or Unsurprisingly, I don't know, they said yes. And then within two days, it was up on the website and we did it. And in less than a year, we had well, not me, but few people on this call had selected the first cohort. So, Denali, what am I missing from that origin story of the Indigenous backcountry scholarship? Yeah, I was living in Chug Young Lands and Dillingham at that point. And I think you'd gotten a hold of me to be on another event for Coalition Snow. And I out of the blue. I think after that call had gotten a hold of me and I was like, hey, Jen, can I ski with you guys? And you said yes, pretty surprising to me because I don't have an extensive background in backcountry skiing or I started skiing when I was six, but because my relationship to it has been so disjointed, I was really surprised that you were like, oh, yeah, come on board with us. And then there was this desire to see more Indigenous folks, like, out on the ski slopes. I think at this point, Ellen and I weren't connected. Ellen's going to be introducing themselves later on in the call, but I knew of Connor Ryan and Micheli Oliver who were skiing in the backcountry. But other than that, my crew of other backcountry skiers that were also Indigenous folks was very limited. And so there was this desire to see more folks get out there. And yeah, we wanted to make this fund, and it was amazing because within that day and a half, two days, you already had a website up and had all the supporting factors. And it's really funny. Now, looking back on it, we realized we didn't really have that selection process or other supportive documents that like a regular fund or scholarship would have because Jen was just like, yeah, let's fucking do it. We just launched it. And I think now we're at this point where it's here. It's a real thing. We were out filming a promo the other day, and I looked at Hannah, who you'll also meet here in a little bit. And I said, oh, my God, this is real. We're actually doing it right now. And so there's like, this level of surrealism that I think has been, for me at least been accompanying this an entire journey for the last two years. Whereas now it's like, oh, it's happening. The industry is changing. It is changing, like dramatically and pretty damn fast. And let's keep this momentum going.
Exactly. There's lots of pieces, lots of things to still figure out, but we made it happen. And I'm really grateful that you said yes because not everyone says yes to me. In a perfect world, everyone would say yes to me when I want them to say yes, but they don't always do that. And that is not fun for me. But you said yes. And look where we are today. How about we meet some of the people who received the scholarship this year. So we do have Catherine and Nahani and Geneva here. Catherine, do you want to introduce yourself? We'll start with you.
Bosha. Katherine Yeager Nashkadas. Hi, my name's Katherine Yeager, and I am one of the recipients this year. Man, I just came across, I think someone sent me this via Instagram, one of the people of color I worked with last year to organize cross country skiing clinics for people of color. And they emailed it to me and they're like, I don't think you've ever heard of this, but you should totally look at it. And I grew up in what's now called Bend, and I had gone on backcountry skis maybe three, four times total in my life. But in Bend, everyone kind of does it. And I just thought I wasn't good enough. I didn't have access to it. And I was like, I don't think I should apply. Like, I've never really gone. I've gone like three times total. And I think there was just a community of people here that supported me in applying for it. And it was so cool. I think what stood out to me the most, it was my first time. I just applied for a Fulbright, not gotten it. And I've applied for grants and things like that. And I got to go back and I was reading the questions and I was talking to friends and I wrote and they're like, dude, you're writing to an audience of Indigenous people. You don't need to filter yourself. Because then I had originally gone on a full break like a few years back or ten years ago. I had to take off that I was part of the GSA at my College. They're like, we're not sure if they're okay with gay people. So can you take that off? And so it was so cathartic to write something and be your authentic self and not fear. And I think that's what was so special. I didn't care if I necessarily got it. It was just to be able to apply for something and to be able to not try to have to hide any part of myself or to cater to an audience and worry what people were going to think or say. So that was kind of my experience. And then I was super excited to wake up to that email like five in the morning. I followed a lot of you guys on Instagram, and then to all of a sudden be like, wow, starting to go out in that country ski, and hopefully I'll go out with Geneva next weekend, maybe. So that's my experience. What about I guess I'll pass it to Geneva, since I always mentioned your name. Always putting me on the spot.
Bojo. Geneva indicates I'm an enrolled member of the Citizen Pottawata nation, and I'm just super happy to be a part of this community. Something that I have noticed in these native communities that I've been finding myself to be more part of, which has been awesome, is that we are really, really good at making connections. I think that's just like our superpower. And I've been really trying to lean into that, and I think that it's really cool. And I think this scholarship in particular, that's what it has been about for me. It's interesting because I have a very similar but different reasoning of why I applied for it and why I was scared to apply for it. I have a lot of experience in the backcountry. I was lucky enough and privileged enough to learn from my dad, who has been in the ski industry for a long time and is also a small Asian man, so I can fit into all of his gear. So I got away with that at a young age. And so initially, I was like, well, I don't know if I deserve this. I have my Abbey one. Why should I take that away from someone else? And I had some awesome friends in my community, kind of pushed me to do it because they said, well, think about what you could do if you got your Abbey, too. Think about how you could maybe instead of using this as a learning opportunity, as a leading opportunity. And so that was kind of my thought going into it is, yeah, I'll get my Abbey, too. I'll get more confidence and leadership in the backcountry so that I can take other native people, other people, other women of color into the backcountry and make this a safe space. I think that's, like, one of my favorite things to do is to take people into the backcountry for their first time. That's kind of a thing I'm known for here. I like to take a lot of people's B cards, if you will. I'm super happy that I applied for it, not only because I got this experience, but because I got to meet some really cool people. And it reconnected me with Catherine. And we have been trying to connect for so long. It's pretty funny that we're from the same tribe, which is originally from the Great Lakes, our reservations in Oklahoma, and we both grew up in what is now central Oregon, and we never knew each other until now. And it's something super healing to come together with people that you are supposed to be with. And so I think that's a huge part of this scholarship as well is just coming together with people that I'm supposed to be with and meeting new people because of it. And I'll just hop on over to Nahani. Tomse Abu Stitch. My name is Nahani McKay. I'm one of the recipients of the Indigenous Back Country Scholarship. I'm here on Tree Seven territory here in Banff, Alberta, which is more namely the Canadian Rockies. What this scholarship? I kind of had the same vibe to Geneva about applying for this scholarship because I am very privileged. My dad's one of the few Indigenous ACMG guides in Canada, along with Barry Blanchard. I'm not sure if there's anyone else. If there is, please hit me up. I would love to ski with you. Yeah. So I found the Coalition scholarship via Instagram from Indra, who runs Inclusivity on the West Coast here in Vancouver. And I was like, Whoa. And then I didn't know what coalition was because you guys are a US brand and I'm up here Northern, and I looked at your Instagram, I'm like, oh, like naked ladies and her people and a cake that says men step up. I'm down. Like, sure. Like, I never heard of a ski brand that, like, sells Apparat delight, which look it up. I'm not going to say here on this podcast, but I was like, yeah, feel good, ski good and applying for the scholarship. I know in one of the application boxes it was just like, what would the scholarship mean to you? And I was like that I could give my dad ski gear from the 90s back getting this scholarship. I was already signed up for my AST two. And getting your opponent is like something that you would do to work in the snow industry. And it is quite a hefty ticket to get. Like, it's quite a bill. So I was pretty stoked on getting the Indigenous Backcountry Scholarship because I want to work more in the snow industry. And like, this past winter, the Bovelley did their first women's and non binary AST one, which I coordinated with my stepmom Lisa. And I want to do more of that through the scholarship. And I'll pass it on to Ellen.
Yeah. Hi, my name is Ellen Bradley. I go by she/her pronouns, and I am Clinkett, which is a tribe of Southeast Alaska. I grew up in the Sailor Sea area, so about Everett, Washington, and have skied since I was a little kid, but only started backcountry skiing during the winter of 2019 2020. So I'm pretty new to backcountry skiing as well, and I've been pretty lucky to have in my first full season. Somehow creator must have wanted it to get connected with this incredible, amazing group of Indigenous skiers that include Conorine and Denali Hodgdon and Cal Smith and all a ton of amazing other people. And I connected with Denali a little over a year ago. It was actually through a Coalition Snow that country beta series. I've been following Denali for a while, but we had never really chatted. And Denali and Michael Oliver were hosting a series and I sat in and listened and just put in my two cent in the chats, encouraging them on, and got a message from Denali back saying, dude, you should have been participating in this the whole time and you should have used your voice. And Mckayley reaching out too. And it just so happened at the time that I connected with Connor Ryan, who they were both really good friends with, and Connor ended up inviting me out on a road trip. And so I ended up just flying out to Montana and meeting Micheli, meeting Cal, and meeting Denali for the first time in person in the middle of Cuba, which was probably a little crazy, but the whole time it just felt like it was meant to be. And ever since, we've just been conspiring on what are the ways that we disrupt this terribly settler-colonial, capitalistic industry and how can we as Indigenous women and Indigenous nonbinary people and Indigenous men just do our parts to use the skill sets that we have to change the world and to reindigenize this world, rematrite the land, and be better relatives to each other into the land? And so I was incredibly excited when did Ali told me about the scholarship and asked me if I wanted to participate. And I gladly accepted to be on the selection committee. And it was an incredibly emotional process to go through the different applications. And I think absolutely everyone that applied deserved to get the scholarship. And I think that's why I think this scholarship is important is that everyone that applied deserved it. But we ended up with an incredible cohort. So I'm incredibly excited. I'm stoked to be involved. And the conversations that we've had so far just with this group, the very few Zoom meetings we've had, I leave all of them feeling incredibly energized, feeling like I'm in community, even though none of us, well, except for Denali and Hannah really are around each other that often. And so this is just such an awesome community to exist in. And I'll hand it off to Hannah to introduce yourself.
Oh, man, you guys are making me feel fuzzy just listening to your descriptions. My name is Hannah Corral. My father. His ancestors eat talk in Philippines, and I live on Lower and in Alaska. What do you say? I started skiing in 1996, backcountry skiing on old school downhill skis that my dad had. Nahani, I totally get you. You're like, why don't these turn? And I got involved in this scholarship because one day I was what was I doing? I was checking my phone and Denali was like, hey, what are you doing today? Do you want to be on a selection committee? And I was like, oh, yeah. And then Denly, I said, well, of what? And they described me what was going on, which was exciting because we had also had a conversation earlier in that year about we went for a bike ride and had ice cream and talked about just kind of got into it about wanting what mattered to us. And one of our first conversations and that had to do with being in the backcountry and being outside in connection to land and connection to community. And we both were like, I don't know, are we allowed to drop F bombs in this podcast? Because I sure would like to. Okay, sweet. We were both like, fuck this white dude world, blah, blah, blah, what can we do? And we're like, oh, I have ideas. And they were like, I have ideas. So months later, boom, there we were. And it was such a great not even half a stance, but just a good fold into this project. And I also run a very small time ski touring business in Alaska. And I have a lot of vested interest in changing the narrative of this billion dollar industry of tourism and extraction mentality that comes with the ski industry and just being outside. And so, yeah, when I got to be a part of the selection community, I definitely had some wet T shirts next to me just with tears and snot because it was all really hurtful. And since 1996, I have been in my mind like the only Brown person nonbinary person. That was even before they had that word skiing. And now I look at all of you and I'm just like, when are we going to go and rip it? Let's change some shit. Let's do it. So it's been really awesome to get to know all of you.
And yeah, that's about that. We're going to get into the selection process a little bit more. But before we get into that Deenaalee, we never did a proper intro for you. So I feel like that should happen right now.
Hi, everybody. My name is Deenaalee. My introduction can be very long at times, but I'll Shorten it for this. I am currently calling in from lower Tamil Denier lands in Fairbanks, Alaska, where I learned to ski on a little mountain called Moose Mountain. And I am supiak Upik and dekaton Denes or at the basket. And that's all I'm going to say right now. I mean, that's all that you need to say because everyone clearly knows who you are and there's massive crushes that have been realized through this process. So we're happy that you're here. Let's get back to the selection process. So Ellen and Hannah, you both talked about what an emotional process it was. And I'm curious if the two of you in Denali as well, if you feel comfortable kind of talking about what the selection process looked like, what were you specifically looking for and what I think made this really I mean, you've already kind of talked to it, but what were the specific things that were so emotional and so heartfelt about the process of not just selecting the five people, but also reading through all the submissions?
Yeah, I can speak on that a little bit too. When we started this process, there's this scholarship to the Coalition scholarship, but I was also helping Conorine with the Icon Pass Natives Outdoors Scholarship. And so I came into both of these application committees feeling so emotional because the end of it had read over call it 200 applications from different Indigenous people applying. And so the thing that made it the most emotional to me was this reminder of the barriers associated with associated with backcountry skiing and associated with all of these activities occurring on stolen land and occurring within this illegal occupation that is the United States of America. And so reading over so many people like me that I didn't think existed and only had just had a taste of that existence through meeting Deenaalee, Connor, Micheli and Cal and those being the first Indigenous skiers I had ever skied with other than my dad and my brother, that's what made the process the most emotional to me is that scheme for me was how I most connected with my indigenity being removed from my traditional homelands. It's how I most connected with the place that I live, developing my relationships here and putting my time to the relatives and to the land that I now live on. And knowing that that is only something that I could do because I was really fortunate that skiing was something my family wanted to do. And it was like the only activity that we did as a family. So we put a lot of time and effort into that and we had the privilege to do it. And the only reason I got pulled into the backcountry was because I was in College and I lived with a woman who is from Colorado whose family is really wealthy. And so they took me backcountry skiing one time, and I fell in love with it then. And all the sacrifices it took to get all of my own first gear for backcountry skiing, which was all secondhand. And to know that there were 200 other people like that who either wanted to start skiing or already were skiing or wanted to venture into that country or wanted to become guides. And that to all of us. While many of us could have made it happen without a scholarship like this, the fact that so many of us need something like this or deserve something like this, or frankly, all of us should have access, no matter what our backgrounds are, because this is stolen land and we're all Indigenous, and so we're the First Nations. Hello. That's what made it most emotional for me.
And everyone is pointing at Deenaalee rate just so that everybody knows what's going on. We are all on video. You don't get to see that, but we get to see it. You should see the chat that's happening. Like, you think Zoom chats are good. Zoom chats have nothing on the chat that's happening right here. And we all see each other. We have our own little Brady Bunch going on here. And you heard that part. Everyone is, I think, pointing at Deenaalee like, yeah, you're up. And so that's what none of you are seeing. But we're all kind of cackling over here about the chat is also saying Aprés Delight. Yes.
And for everybody. I didn't include this in my introduction, but I also run a podcast and so I'm used to being in the listening seat, which means that you have to try and get me to talk sometimes. Yeah. Emotional, I guess. First and foremost, when Jen got a hold of me and was like, hey, you really need a selection committee. Like, hurry up and inform it. And yes, I can be a little delayed on my responses. And so I got a hold of people like, pretty last minute. And yet I think it was like the perfect crew too that came together in order to be on the selection committee. There's also my friend Maria and my friend Sarah. We're both Alaska native and then Micheli Oliver as well, who's black feet. And it was one really bonding for us to get to see one another and be on the selection committee and realize, okay, we all want to see other people be in this realm and have this access that Ellen was just speaking to. I think what was difficult for me was that there were so many Alaskans that were in the actual they had applied. And so I had to remove myself from like half of the applicants be like, alright, I either know most of these folks and also there could be potential bias. And so trying to figure out how to make a selection committee that can assess Turtle Island was huge. And then we had to figure out, well, how are we are we going to be selecting via tribe or by region? We also know that we are living in the diaspora right now. I'm a product of a diasporic story being living not in my traditional homelands. And there's a lot of folks that are like that, like Geneva and Catherine are prime examples of the diaspora that we're living in. So trying to figure out how do we make sure that we have breadth and depth to this selection process was I guess one aspect of it that I definitely felt responsible for. And then when reading the applications, I think what really shined through. And Catherine, I remember when we read your application and what you just said about needing to and wanting to and realizing that you could speak your truth and your indigenity and not have to censor yourself. That came through and that came through so much in your application. And I hope that whatever people are applying for, especially Indigenous people, that we have the chance to do that, regardless of whether it's for the backcountry or if it's for the Fulbright. And the other aspect of it was realizing that this is a backcountry scholarship. It does help to have some sort of exposure to skiing in the past. And so the other thing that we had to really think about was are we going to award people that are new to skiing or are we going to award people that have some experience? And we ended up actually going with people that had a little bit more experience in the back or like whiskeying, because we realized that we wanted to build a cohort that could bring more people in Geneva. I think both you and Nahani are prime examples of that too. You've had the privilege to be in the industry and be exposed in the past, and yet at the same time, there are still barriers. And so how do we come together, be able to see one another, that we're not doing this alone. And then we have the opportunity to, I guess to build on this fund and to build through the years. It's not just like a one and done deal. And I think that's the power of having a partner, like Coalition snow. And like you, Jen, who's like, I believe in this. I want to invest in it continuously. And we're not just going to do it and we're not just going to do it half ass. We're going to do it all the way and we're going to make sure that we continue. And I think the beauty of coming together in spaces like juicy bits or the backcountry beta series and the few times that we've gotten together was to see like, and even in our email chains, there is investment in us continuing and bringing more people into this space. And I think that that's really the beauty of why everybody is here right now. As you can. I also just get feels like every time, Hannah, it was really emotional because what denial was saying with Nahanni story and Katherine, we had so many applicants. And I was in literal shock when I was sent the spreadsheet of all the applicants. It was just like all the way down and I'm scrolling and I'm scrolling and it's on a spreadsheet. So you just get these little tiny boxes of kind of a summary because it came on so late. I was just like feverishly reading through them all and they all just evoked like a hunger for connection with a greater community. Like, I feel like every story was saying, I am here. I don't know if there's anyone else out there. Can you hear me? I need some skis. Let's meet up. And it was really just like, kind of zooming out of the spreadsheet. I just saw over Turtle Island, like, all these people who were hiding or not hiding but were in the shadows behind all these barriers. And to me that was just like so powerful. And to be able to have this opportunity to break those and make connections for everybody, it really sort of bigger picture. It made this scholarship means so much more than just having access to gear and having access to avalanche classes and having access to just being able to go outside. Suddenly it became kind of this like slingshot mode around the moon to get to other more important things to talk about, such as land management, food sovereignty, decolonization all the things. It was just suddenly it just opened a floodgate of voices that have been waiting to be heard. And so I was just like, hell, yeah, let's give everybody skis and avalanche classes. Oh, shit, we can only take five people. It's a calm down for a second. It was overwhelming.
Yeah. And then we decided in our process to pick people who already had a little bit more experience so that they could essentially be able to carry this message further and farther than we could ever in a short little description on the Instagram saying, like, here's the skis. So it really became so much bigger so fast in such a short period of time. But it's been building forever, right. We are eating right now the pressure cooker meal that we have been throwing stuff in forever. So, yeah, I was totally overwhelmed and equally so psyched. Yeah. And I don't think any of us actually knew what to expect with this. Right. I remember. So I wasn't a part of the selection committee. Like as Deenaalee said, I was the one who was like, Deenaalee, get a selection committee. Here's our deadline. Let's do this. But I read through everything, but I didn't have any say in who was selected. But when we first put the application out, I was nervous. I was like, what if people don't apply? What if we don't? Like, are people going to find out about this? Is this going to resonate with people? And clearly I was foolish because there's this huge demand. I would say, like correct me if I'm wrong, not this demand necessarily for gear or the education, but a demand for community and a demand to connect with one another. And sort of, Hannah, what you were saying, like not feeling like you're the only person who's doing this thing. And that connection, I think is probably like how this really moved through community and people were motivated to apply. And I think it's worth noting that what's coming up in our chat right now is there's all these comments about land back and this scholarship isn't just about getting people out skiing. There's these bigger issues. And I'm just curious if you all want to talk a little bit about land back and a little bit about how your role specifically as people who identify as backcountry skiers and snowboarders, like how that relates because they're not separate. They're fully connected. And, Catherine, I see that you would like to say something there. Yeah. I have to be careful with what I say. Obviously, my job is very forward facing. I'm in education, and part of how I took this job, and I'm helping with the implementation of tribal history, shared history in a large district in Oregon, which is so cool. And part of how I took this job is I had a native student, and I was teaching a curriculum that I thought was good. And they were like, no, it's not. Then I met with this native parent who's just this badass woman, and she's like, dude. And taught me a lot of things that I didn't realize and had to unpack. And I remember I was so excited to try this new job. It's what drove me to this new job to leave the classroom for the first time. And I remember I was like, okay, I need to apply for the scholarship. Like, I really want to do this. And I was going over a training with someone. I can't say too many details. And basically a comment came out and with my other friend who's native the one, you know, Geneva. And basically the person said, you're never getting your land back anyway. So why are we talking about this? I mean, you've met the other woman. I don't want to say her name because I didn't get her permission. We left immediately and went to a coffee shop. And we were like, that's not okay. I'm not okay. And we took the rest of the day off, and I called in sick the next day, and I was like, you know what I'm going to do? I'm frustrated and I'm angry. I'm going to spend the whole day. I took a mental health day. This is going to be on. Like, I took a mental health day, which we're allowed to take. And I wrote for the scholarship. And I think that for me was like, the inspiration is like, okay. So I got told this and, like, how my sign falls down. Like, how can I take that negative energy that I felt and move forward? And I think for me, that's what land back is. So many times I'm told it's not happening, that's the past get over it. And so part of my job and I was so grateful for Geneva coming in and helping, and she got to present to these teachers I was presenting to today, let's bring native people to the present. And part of bringing native people to the present is talking about land back again in the environment I'm in.
I have to be careful on how I talk about it, but I think I'm excited to hear your guys perspective on that, but it's just really bringing in to people's the present. And that land back is happening and it will continue to happen. I love that because I feel like the first time that we all had our little video chat together, I was like, I would like land Acknowledgements. And you guys are like, actually, it's land back that makes sense. Like, I don't know. I thought about that. And I think the language is so different from us and Canada. It's not PC to say tribes. We call it bands. I can't tell you why. But through my artwork as well as my skiing, I'm trying to learn the original mountain names of the Canadian Rockies up here because it's all named after settlers who came here. And I was actually asked to do a project about Mary Schaefer, who's one of the early explorers of hand quotes early explorers of the Canadian Rockies. And I need a little more information about her before I said yes. And she's most of the reason she named everything in Jasper. It felt like she named all the mountains after her friends or like, what she thought. And I want to stop seeing these early explorers, and I'm sure you all have them in the US as well as, like, pioneers because they're colonizers and we should give our land back to the Indigenous people of where I am with the Canadian Rockies or wherever you want to give back Turtle Island.
Yeah. I mean, I think kind of the encompass what I love about land back is that it can encompass so much like land back. It could be ecology. It could be like literally giving land back and giving life back to land. It could be giving language back to land. Like what Nahanni was talking about and finding the original names of mountains and saying those instead, it could be giving culture back and reclaiming those as the native people that are the original stewards on this land. And for me, what really resonates with me is that Indigenous joy is such a radical movement. Like, any time we are making space on the land and we are finding joy on the land that is land backed. To me, that is how we can reclaim that space because we are finding joy when so many colonizers have tried so hard to take that away from us. And so anytime that we have our Indigenous joy, that is Land Back, say yes a thousand times yes to everything that has already been said. I agree with absolutely everything. And the only thing I really have to add is Land Back also is literally land back. Like, literally giving back decision making like, authority to tribes, to First Nations, to Indigenous Peoples. Like, literally no longer the ultimate goal is no longer this concept of land ownership. Because no Indigenous people agree with land ownership. We do not own the land. The land owns us. But as much as all of these things that have already mentioned are like how we continue to move towards land back. But the ultimate goal is Land Back. And I think all of these actions and all of these things that we're doing is how we are getting to that. And that's already happening. You can see that in different places. And the Redwoods, there was just a ton of land that was given back to tribes in Washington. There was just a ton of land that was given back to tribes. And this is happening both from industry levels, from individuals and sometimes from government institutions. But ultimately, land back is Land Back. And I think every Indigenous person that is working towards that is doing it just by existing. And that the rest is what we need help from allies from is to literally give us our land back.
Yeah. And I know a lot of people be like, well, how does that happen? I'm very much a big picture person as well. A lot of people that know me know that. But if you get down to the details in it and think about how does that happen? You know, we are building off of and trying to decolonize from the doctrine of discovery and from Manifest Destiny, which were very much like this idea around westward expansion, like, let's keep moving. Let's keep like cultivating the land in a certain way, putting up fences, putting in agriculture. Well, right now those systems aren't working. And we realize everything the big elephant in the room always is climate change. And the fact is we have to protect our winters and we have to protect our lands. And we're not going to be able to do that unless we have true Indigenous stewardship, which pulls on traditional ecological knowledge and the ways that we relate to land that is not extractive. And so part of what the Biden administration is doing right now, I work in storytelling and in policy and then in the outdoor industry. And so the bridge that I see between all of those is land. And right now we have the opportunity under something like Biden's 30 by 30 initiative, 30% of water, 30% of land conserved, which we could go down a whole rabbit hole about conservation, but conserved by 2030. And within that, we can look at something like a lot of tribes are doing this right now is what does Comanagement look like between somebody like the Borough of Land Management that owns a lot of land across the state and then figure out how do we make these policies that ensure that Indigenous people can implement our traditional ecological knowledge when it comes to forestry, burning of wildfires or yes, I could go down a whole rabbit hole, but that is some of the implementation of Land Back that is happening right now that can allow us to tell the stories. We have to be able to tell stories because that's what people connect to. And so how do we do that? We can go get on our skis and say, hey, this is BLM land that I'm skiing on right now. And maybe it just had like a fire that swept through and burned the entire region. What would it look like if you had Indigenous fire burning practices on it that wouldn't take away everything but would allow for the cultivation of our foods and access to subsistence hunting and harvesting? So it's all connected. And that's like that's Land Back. And that's kind of like how I see this work in Indigenous backcountry skiing and this Indigenous backcountry fund reconnecting us to one another and to our land. Well, and land back as a part of decolonization. I know that Hannah wants to talk about that a little bit. You can totally go into the rabbit hole. And I think that's a good thing. We have to do it. But to bring it back into the scholarship, like one thing that I know some of us have talked to about is this fund in the future kind of not even that long. Far big picture, too, is to be able to give opportunities to Indigenous folks to become leaders in these conversations with allies and people who literally have no idea what land back is, who are skiing all over the place and just hopping on the bus and putting the onesie on and taking the picture. There's so much more to that. And so who better than to become, like, ambassadors and messengers of what the hell is going on in truth and how to make the world better? 2030 is pretty damn close. So we kind of have to have everybody on board at this point. So I think that conversations that some of us have had is like how this scholarship can just be just another form of elevating this entire interconnected story for Indigenous people. Because let's face it, the ski industry is like how many billions of dollars and how many eyes are staring at it all day long and who's in climate crisis, like scrambling to the cold parts of the world to get on the Hill. This is a total appetizer for bigger conversation. And I think that the scholarship, if people pay attention and want to donate and help this cause decolonization is for everybody in so many ways. And like, that's a rabbit hole that we could go down all day long. And maybe we should, but let's get our Indigenous people outfitted and becoming leaders in this industry to shift the conversation. Boom. That's all I got for right now. I mean, that was exceptional. Thank you. Absolutely. So one of the things I've been taking notes. Okay.
One of the things that I wanted to talk about, a couple of you have said this, and also I want to give a shout out to Connor Ryan in Spirit of the Peaks, because he talks about this in the film as well. If you all haven't seen that, make sure you go watch it. I will put it in the show notes. You can click on it and go watch it, but it's this idea of belonging and feeling like you deserve to be in the backcountry and you deserve to be a skier. And I think that's a big part of this conversation, too. And I was hoping that some of you could speak to that either why you have felt like you don't belong or why you do belong or just sort of this idea of, like, how do we shift this, like, Hannah, what you were saying, like, how do we shift this conversation to where belonging isn't questionable? It just is for people. Geneva, do you want to kick us off?
Yeah, I think that's something that I recently realized. So central Oregon. I live in Bend. It's, like, kind of a freak town. We have an insane amount of Olympic athletes here, and just everyone is so athletic and so competitive, which is inspirational. It's really cool. It makes sense. We have amazing accessibility to some beautiful places and also is pretty isolating, especially for people who it's not our culture to be competing on land and to be competing with land. And I think that's something that I've always kind of struggled with and never really could put words to for a very long time. And, you know, all my friends, they're on Strava. They're posting their Q-O-M their KOMs, and I'm proud of them. I'm super happy for them. It's awesome. And I just also don't care. Like, there's never been a part of me that's like, yeah, I got to go beat that. I'm just not about it. And I recently realized that I think a big part of it is just, like, in my native culture, that's not why we're on the land. And it's for me, being on the land and running and mountain biking and skiing and doing these action sports. It's so fun, and it's so fun because I'm outside and I'm with the land, and I'm creating connections with the land. I'm creating connections with the people that I'm with on the land, hopefully, unless they're too into their straws. And so I think that was, like, a big moment for me of realizing, like, okay, I don't have to be competing with my friends because I don't want to in the first place. I don't have to bag peaks you guys can't see, but I'm holding up my finger close bag peaks, because that just feels really colonizery to me. It's never been about getting to the top for me. It's always been about the journey and just soaking it in. And I just think that a huge part of what made it feel so isolating is the language that people use, like, bagging peaks. And so I think that is a step is, like having these conversations with people with my friends and with people in Bend and being like, you can be competitive. But also, like, consider this here's another perspective. And also Bend is a playground and other finger quotes that drives me nuts. Like when people refer to this land as a playground, that, to me, symbolizes that this is something that we can just take over and we can just use up and it's like, commodifiable.
Okay, thank you. It's like, commodifiable. And it does feel like that living in this, like, resort town. And it, like, pains me when people refer to, like, nature, like, Bend as our playground. Nature is our playground because it's so much more than that. And I just want people to see that. And so for me, I think a big part of it that isolates us is language. And just, like, making it not about conquering the land. It's not about bagging peaks. It's not about the playground. It's about the connections that we're making, what we're learning from the land, how we can give back to the land. I love that. Yeah, I agree. There's no one I've met more that does it for the grand than the people in this fucking town. Like, it's ridiculous. I am done as a photographer. I barely take photos of when I'm outside doing stuff because that time is for me. Yeah. So I'll tell you a story. I was working. I was working at my part time job where I sell stretchy pants. You can guess where that is. And my dad's guiding friend, Whatever, came in and he was just like, oh, like, chatting to me. He's like, do you still climb? I was like, no. And he's like, yeah, well, that makes sense, you're big boned. I was just like, sir, please. But that's definitely what turns me off from snow sports is because I just see a lot in social media and mainstream media of skinny people climbing or like, I'm not good enough. And growing up here, I never thought I was good enough to ski because it was just kind of like all the mean kids that skied. And I was really intimidated to join a freestyle skiing club. And now that I'm older, I'm teaching freestyle skiing. And I never thought I would be able to do that because I never saw myself with these groups of people. And that goes with Indigenous sports, too. I think that with Spirit of the Peaks, a friend who's working on a film was like, oh, it's already been done. We can't do this Indigenous ski movie anymore. I'm like, does a CIS white guy say, look at another CIS white guy do a back flip? And I was like, I can't do it. It's been done. No, they keep doing it. The content keeps filtering out. We just need more Indigenous representation in the ski industry and mainstream media with film festivals. And of course, this cohort has been talking about doing something like that or, like, getting together and like, that'd be great. And it's kind of funny with the scholarship, I thought I was just getting some gear and some money, but I'm getting like a rad group of friends to ski with. I remember I was really into cross country skiing. It's a little bit cheaper, right? And I remember that was my main sport. And I remember, like, I had posters in my room of skiers and I was like, I was going to go to College and ski. I met the people. And I just remember looking around and being like, okay, almost everyone's white, everyone's like £110. And I remember watching the Olympics and be like, I'm a 135. And I'm also my mom was the first Latina teacher. And then I was like, I'm like, not super small at that time. And I was like, Maybe I can't do this. And I think that and then the money, I get there and they're like, you need rock skis, you need regular. That was on the East Coast, right? You need Rockies, you need regular skis, you need roller skis. I was like, well, in the Snow's gone. I hike. What are you talking about? I just move on. And I think that was a really hard moment, I think, to realize that your sport doesn't want you and doesn't have a place for you. I skied. And I think what Geneva said is there's so much to unpack about privilege. And I think one thing that I've been working with an organization called Open Slopes and they do ski nights in the Portland Mount Hood area. And I got to teach one of my students from eight years ago, one of my bipoch students, how to ski like they're a College 1D one basketball player, but had never been on skis and hadn't been to Mount Hood in 15 years. And they grew up here, sorry, way east. And I think there was so much power in that night. And then even yesterday I went up and I was so scared of driving in the snow sometimes because I'm like, oh, it's stressful. But these two women that had done the open slopes, sorry, these two humans that done Open Slopes really wanted to go up. And I realized there was so much privilege of me knowing my whole life how to drive in snow. And I was like, even just that barrier of like, how do I even drive in snow? And I had a vehicle that could get me there and could get them there. And I think I was up. I remember being up at the mountain the night I was like, as a powder day, I could be in the backcountry or could be doing stuff. And I was like, this is so much more powerful and there's so much community because the barrier is not just gear, right? The barrier is not just clothes. There's so many things that get in the way. And I think we're looking to at sports and relooking. I think a lot of the Spirit of the Peaks video, like I stopped and touched the snow and remembering it's going to be water. It just changes your whole outlook. And I think unpacking, so much of what I learned in what's now called Bend to now is so powerful. I think that's what the scholarship did for me and helped connect that I didn't feel alone in that feeling. And then how do I build on that feeling? And how do I support other people? I launched a scholarship with a friend a week ago. Now you guys are scaring me because there's already people applying. I was like, oh, my God, how are we going to choose but, like, building off what I learned from you guys and now to do in the Nordic community? Because part of why one is getting backcountry skiing is I go and I don't see anyone of color Nordic cross country skiing, but I see backcountry and I see in the downhill sport. So, like, how can I bring that to the next community? How do we move on from there? So, Ellen, go ahead. Sorry. Well, I just want to jump in. This is Jen. I want to say something. Catherine, you brought something up that I think is really important that we need to discuss. The ski industry is an industry. The industry exists to make money, and it is fueled by capitalism. And so the whole point, let's not confuse ourselves. Like, sure, there's certainly individuals who want true connection with the land and true connection with one another, but the industry wants to make a shit ton of fucking money. And they historically have thought that the only people they can make money off of are CIS white men, CIS straight white men. The rest of us have just been those things on the side that they've never thought about anyone else. And that speaks volumes to the amount of whether it's, like, over racism and sexism and ableism or whether it's bias. But part of the reason why there hasn't been a more robust and diverse representation in skiing is because people are 100% just trying to fucking sell shit. And they think they know who to sell things to. And that for me, like, part of the power of this group, both through the scholarship, but also what you all are doing as individuals is to kind of show them, actually, fuck you. I got mine, and I'm fucking here. And we're going to do this right. Like, to ignore all of us and all of you because you don't fit into essentially, they don't think you're going to bankroll this industry. But that for me. Like, I have a big passion around changing that. But like this. Well, number one, we should append capitalism. Right? But also, like, number two, don't always look to them to think that they're the only ones who are going to drive the industry. Look at alternative forms of capital. It's not just financial capital that runs this world. And we have a lot of power, whether it's social capital or environmental capital or human capital, where we can actually step in and change all of that. Totally. And Jenny kind of was a good transition to what I wanted to say. I feel like we could all probably write books on why we either feel we belong or do not belong in either this world, in the outdoor industry, in the careers we exist in, or whatever it is. But inherently Indigenous people are taught that we don't belong in any of these places, even when we're on our own traditional homelands or we're just on lands that our people have been on forever. But there are a couple of comments that were made from other people that I really resonated with one when it comes to gear. I was on the same pair of skis for eight straight seasons. Core shot the shit out of them, got to a point where I had the tune Sony Times that the tech was like, this is it. You're done. These skis are dead. And the only reason right now I have two pairs of skis this season. A new paint and coat, new goggles and helmet and gloves is because I just met the right people. I don't have the money. I would have never bought a single bit of the gear that I have this season for myself. I would have skied on those skis, however many more seasons I could until I could either afford or find a good consigned pair of skis like skiing I cannot afford. I also hate participating in capitalism. So I attempt in whatever way I can to avoid the system. And I've just gotten lucky that I made a relationship with the co founder of a brand who made the skis that I fell in love with. And then I met Deenaalee, and then I met Kelly, and I met Cal, and I literally just got brought into this industry and was like, Here you go. And the industry didn't have really another Indigenous female skier. And I also happen to be an Arctic climate scientist. And so people are like, wow, you fall into all these intersecting categories like, we want to talk to you, but also none of these people want anything else other than to just talk to me. And so there's a whole thing on belonging there. I could write a book on that. But I hate writing. The other element of belonging that I really struggle with in this industry is the fact that my traditional homelands are in a place that a lot of people like to ski. I come from a place where heli skiing is a huge industry where people just move there and ski on lands that I've heard stories from different people in my tribe say, places you're never supposed to ski. And as I was just spontaneously brought into this industry after never thinking there was ever a space for me in actual ski industry. I met all these people who have spent a ton of time on my traditional homeland skiing. And any time I say I'm clinging, I'm from Southeast Alaska. Everyone's like, oh, I've skied that line. I know this helicopter, like everyone else in the world has not everyone else in the world. Everyone else in the ski industry has a connection to Southeast Alaska and skiing on my homelands before I did. And that was, like, crushing to my soul. And in these moments when people thought they were being kind and helpful, when I finally said, I'm working on this project, I'm actually going to go ski my homelands for the first time, and I'm going to face some of these traumas head on and do this thing. And there's a lot more to be said on that because this project will happen and is it happening. But in these moments when people thought they'd be nice and saying like, oh, I know the best heli operators, I can connect you with these people. People in the industry didn't realize how harmful that was and how much that actually made me feel like I didn't belong. And that because I grew up in skiing ski, but had never had access to ski on my own homelands because of colonization, that they thought that they could just bring me in with all of their little local connections and that would be what a clinky girl who's never skewed on her homeland is needed. And that was just like the ultimate fuck you in my face from people who thought they were being nice and kind. And I came into those situations and had these things happen and had really strong trauma responses of, like, wanting to look really nice people in their faces and say, Fuck off. Why have you spent time on my homelands? Why have you skied on my homelands? Why have you done these things in a way that doesn't feel good? Why have you gone Helly skiing and gone to the top of this mountain and made absolutely no relationship to the relatives that exist in that place? Why have you never met the trees? Why have you never met the Moss? Why have you never met the people? Why don't you know the traditional names of these places? Why do you come in, you get dropped off on the mountain, you ski down this crazy line, and then you leave and you extract with you videos of this pristine and beautiful last frontier that is Alaska, and you give nothing back to the place. And I had to navigate these places in these situations that I was in with people who are good people but didn't fundamentally understand how their actions and existing in this industry harmed me and how hearing that made me want to say, I never want to be sponsored by a company. Like, I'd rather have friendships with company where I get free gear because one I can't afford it. And two, I don't know if I want to be sponsored by companies that have sent people to do these incredibly harmful things on my traditional homelands and have given nothing back to the people or to me. And that all just from being a kid in this industry and feeling like I already didn't belong because I never saw another Indigenous person other than my dad and my brother and tell meeting these people to then have that happen in a way that just brought up all this intergenerational trauma. Like, I still don't really feel like there's a place for me in skiing, and I have existential crises on it every other day where I have my own job, I'm an Arctic climate scientist. Like, I could just do that. But I also am incredibly passionate about skiing, and I know that if I only did one or the other, I wouldn't be fully living out my full identity. But I'm having to face these traumas daily. And I think I'm definitely not someone to toot my own Horn. But I think it was probably one of the bravest things I could do to actually fall through on this project of skiing my homelands and having it be something that there is video of. And we haven't quite decided what to do with that video yet, but might be a film and to share that emotional experience was so brave of me and yet so harmful still to be exploited in that way of some of my most deepest emotions being shown to the world. And knowing that when I say these really strong things about how I feel about Alaska and skiing in Alaska, the entire industry or most of the entire industry feels the exact opposite. And that means that nobody or most people don't want to listen to me. And even though I know my voice is strong and what I feel about this isn't strong and important, and other people feel the same way I do that, even though I'm still saying it, the industry is not just going to change. And that just again, makes me feel like I don't belong. And the one of the only things that keeps me going is knowing that there are people like Hannah and knowing there are people like Deenaalee who are also Alaska Native and doing all of that they can in their own ways and in their own places to fight this because Indigenous people are not a monolith. But I will say Alaskan Natives have a special bomb that's a little bit different than Indigenous people of the lower 48. And so Hannah and Denali and all other Alaska Natives skiing, that's kind of like what makes me feel like I belong. I wish that I can hug you through this little box on a screen. Just really two dimensional. Ellen, I think that I hear everything you're saying, and I hear it so deeply.
I'm just thinking of so many different ways that we all can come together to change that because the industry it's going to change, damn it. It's going to have I mean, you think of God damn. I was listening to some podcast the other day when I was working on my truck. I'm underneath this stupid fuel consuming piece of shit car. And I was listening this podcast and it was from the Japan Times. And it was talking about how Japan's industry ski industry was tanking because of covet and all these things. And all I could think of was just had these words ring in my ear, like how the mighty have fallen. This industry is huge. And what you were saying, Jen, they want all of us to eat this cookie that they made. And you can only eat this cookie because this is what a cookie is. I'm sorry, this is not how it is. Actually, I was speaking to a friend of a friend who is an elderly in interior Alaska. I believe he's glitching and he has been in the tourism industry in Alaska since the 60s. Oh, I just did air quotes. Sorry, tourism industry since the 60s. And he's working with Alaska Pacific University to revamp the idea of a business plan. And the business plan at large is based off a plantation colonialist extractive model, which is everything that Jen, you were talking about. And we've been talking about how to essentially on a larger scale Indigenous business thought, which is gift. It's gift economy. It's things like this. It's a complete shift. And anyway, that's a whole other rabbit hole. But what I guess I'm trying to say is and I'll bring all these back because I'm a huge big picture person trying to focus in a short period of time. But he gave me these two kind of words, these two phrases to build a framework in my mind of how to change from going from an extractive economy to not just like get on the hilly. Let's do this in exploitive practices on native lands. And the two phrases were this. It was high frequency existence and low frequency existence. High frequency existence is glitzy, high gloss, high contrast images flashing, no connection to anything. Drone footage like dubstep. I don't know what the kids are listening to right now, but something really cool. And then there's the low frequency thing, advertising as another quote, which is the human experience. It's connection. It doesn't matter actually, if where you come from having a genuine experience and having connection two things is what actually everybody wants. It's just that the industry is telling us to circumnavigate that and to not have respect of where we are and not listen to the stories of our elders or the people who have lived here for a long time or any of that. And just a really quick little story. I grew up cross country ski racing. I don't know if any of you have heard of Keek and Randall she was on the US ski team. Her and Jesse Diggings are the two metal winning people in cross country ski racing. And I grew up ski racing with her. And in my experience with the Nordic ski community, it was actually very supportive, which is really kind of unique. But even though it was very supportive and people were really supportive with very little money because it was the 90s of my experience, I quit because of the commercialism and it's just gross. So I think that I guess in saying all this and I took a bunch of little notes and now I'm not following them at all. But in saying this, I know that there is room for changing the industry because you belong if anybody, you belong in this world. And what Catherine said earlier, I believe it was Catherine. I'm sorry, I can't remember who. But the barriers aren't just equipment, it is the industry. And I think we can come to terms with that by modeling a completely different low frequency connected experience. And I hate to use the word sell, but I think that in order to change all this, it's important to sell those lower frequency experiences. Learning the Indigenous names of the mountains, learning the Indigenous names of the oceans that you're flying over to get to it, being conscious about how much fuel you're burning to get to those places. I mean, helicopters don't even get me started. I went to airplane mechanics school and I've learned about fuel consumption and was just like, what? So anyway, that's my rant about high frequency versus low frequency. And 100%, this is your world. This is your world. And there are a lot of us out here who are trying to lift that up. I feel like you just said every perfect thing to end a podcast. Like, you just really set us like, yeah, but I want to say something to kind of close this out here. This has been, for me personally, probably one of the best podcasts I've ever been a part of. And that's because of all of you and everything that you had to say. And I want to thank you for being incredibly vulnerable and honest and speaking your truth and also for your emotional labor and what I would say, like educating probably a lot of people in the Juicy Bits audience who are going to learn so much from everything that you have to say. So I just am deeply grateful to all of you and want to give each of you just a few minutes before we say goodbye to each other to close this out with anything that you really feel like you want to share with us.
Goodbye, everyone. Thank you for listening to me. And always listen to your gut and the mountains because they're dangerous. And back country skiing is dangerous and you can get all the education you need. But in the end, it's always your gut feeling. And how the land feels about you as well. Thank you. Nahanni, I guess I'll read a quote that I put in my application because I don't feel like I can. I think, Ellen, what you said is so powerful. So I think another person I look up to kind of like I look up to you is Robin Kimmer, who's also St. Paul Omni. And she wrote in her book Green Sweet Grass on page three, in winter, when the green Earth lies resting beneath the blanket of snow, this is the time for storytelling. The storytellers begin by calling upon those who came before, who passed the stories down to us, where we are only messengers. And I guess my takeaway from that quote is that's my role and everyone's role as a backcountry sphere, as anyone in the environment is like being a storyteller and listening to the stories and who was there before because we're really only again, like she said, the messengers. Thank you, Catherine. Catherine, that was part of your application. That was my favorite. Anyone who can quote Robin Will Kimmer has my heart. Robin Kimmer, who gives me strength in my science work, in my field work, and in my backcountry scheme, that was part of the reason when I saw yours, I was like this person, you have to win right now. But I will end off and say cheese to this entire group. This group gives me a lot of strength. And as I said previously, I've been having a lot of existential crises about what my role is in this world where I belong and how I feel all of these hats that I hold. And I think I will continue having those crises because we are all existing in especially for Indigenous people, this post apocalyptic world. And if that's your first time ever hearing that Indigenous people feel that way, maybe you should do some education. And we're also all existing in these false times of this occupation that is either the United States of America or Canada. Whereas a lot of people like to say you throw three KS in either of those names and it's the same country and this group of people who are using our skills and our strengths in whatever ways we can in whatever industries and whatever jobs outside of skiing we have in skiing, that's what's going to change the world. And everyone that applied for the scholarship is included in that as well. And I'm just so excited to see where all of us go and how this connection that we've built and continue to build throughout the years, what that can do for both the ski and they say ski industry and quotes because focal industries, but what it can do to just transform our world and to address all of the issues that we've talked about today. And I think that it is especially Indigenous, nonbinary, Indigenous women, Indigenous two spirit people who are going to leave that charge and that's not to leave out Indigenous men because we love our Indigenous men too, but we don't listen into women to math. So thank you, goodness, Chiche, Jen, for having us today. Thank you, Ellen. Hannah, do you want to say something?
Last time I said send it in a good way, but I'll just try to really quick. Again, thanks everybody for just making this happen. And thank you, Jen, for facilitating this. And I just feel super grateful for being a part of this with you all. I would just say as parting thoughts like it's never too late for anyone, no matter your background to Indigenous, your thoughts in the back country, staying more at a low frequency, having respect for where you are and having conversations with other people as allies about land back. And if you don't know what that means because a lot of people don't Google it, ask somebody who is involved. I'm sure you could ask any of us to clarify that for you on the Instagram or wherever. It's just about we're learning. We're all learning through this, as Ellen said, post apocalyptical world and it's going to be post apocalyptical for everybody as everything gets warmer. So read about it, ask questions. We can all join in this fight together and stay safe. Listen, you're good. Thank you. Thank you, Hannah. So we're having a bit of technical difficulty with Geneva. So actually, Catherine, would you be open to reading what Geneva just put in the chat as her closing statement? Yeah. Geneva wrote to this group mcgwetch to those listening and making space and opening their minds. My message Indigenous joy on ancestral lands. Radical. There we go. And that's how we're ending this episode of juicy bits. But when you're done listening, there are things that you should do. So like Hannah said, go research, land back research, decolonization, click on the show notes or go to coalition snow.com and search for Indigenous backcountry scholarship and put some money there. Particularly if you're somebody who, if your values align with anything that was spoken about tonight, that is a very good place to put some dollars. All the funds will go to the second cohort. And thank you again to everybody who was here tonight on this call. Thank you to all of you, our listeners and thank you to everybody who is going to support this initiative and we will see you hear you chat with you next time on juicy bit.